Osmanlı’da Müslümanlar’ın matbaacılık faaliyetlerinin gelişimi ve “İslam ve

There are numerous studies conducted in different disciplines about the developmentof the Muslim printing activities in the Ottoman Empire as well as the theme of “Islamand print;” however, the vital role the modern state played in controlling and approvingreligious publishing has not been sufficiently examined. The late Ottoman Empirewitnessed, as part of the bureaucratic reorganization of the state, the establishment ofdifferent institutions to inspect printed books and publications. Toward the end of the19th century, two institutes in the name of Teftîş-i Mesâhif-i Şerife and Tedkîk-i MüellefâtEncümeni were founded, respectively, to examine printed mushaf (Qur’anic codex) andIslamic books. During the Second Constitutional era, the Tedkîk-i Mesâhif ve Müellefât-ıŞer‘iyye Meclisi emerged out of their unification. The Council played a pivotal role in theOttoman state’s shaping of Islamic publishing. In this study, the institutional developmentof Tedkîk-i Mesâhif ve Müellefât-ı Şer‘iyye Meclisi; its jurisprudence; the criteria it appliedin evaluating the books submitted for print approval are examined. This study is oneof the first most comprehensive examinations of the Council through primary archivalsources. In addition to studying this council, which was one of the most significant institutesof the Ottoman religious bureucratic apparatus, this article traces the stages of theQur’an and Islamic book publishing in the Ottoman Empire. It analyzes various religiousand non-religious factors applied by the Tedkîk-i Mesâhif ve Müellefât-ı Şer‘iyye Meclisiand related state institutions in approving and controlling Islamic publications.